As some of you know, a few months ago I started ripping my CD collection to a Vortexbox appliance (http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=429245). I’ve been comparing ways to get the music from this server to my system, and this is a review of what I’ve tried. The rest of the system is a TacT 2.0S room-correction EQ, Bel Canto 3.0 DAC with 3.5 processor board and VBS power supply, Channel Islands D200 mono amplifiers, and Newform Research R645v3 ribbon hybrid speakers, all connected with Analysis Plus cables.
When I first set it up, the easiest thing for me to do was use one of my Sonos zone players (a ZP90), hardwired to the router via ethernet (the Vortexbox is also connected this way) and connected to the TacT via coaxial digital. The sound quality immediately struck me as mostly better than playing CDs on my Bel Canto CD2 transport – smoother in the highs, greater image depth, and better bass. However, there was a slightly compressed sound to the music (and yes, I checked to make sure I had the Sonos set for “uncompressed”). The analog output of the Sonos, using its internal DAC, is not in the same league. If you use a Sonos player, I recommend using the digital output into a good DAC.
My next step was to order one of these http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/SOtM-USB-Digital-Interface-SOtM-USB.htm to go from the Vortexbox USB output to the TacT via AES/EBU. This entailed using Logitech Media Server software instead of the Sonos interface. The Logitech Media Server interface is not bad, but I prefer the Sonos. This was an obvious improvement in sound – hard to describe, but I’d say the background seems quieter and imaging is even better, with no sense that the sound is compressed. Certainly it is easier to hear detail. The downsides were that the bass seems a bit lightweight, and with the SotM I could not take advantage of the Sonos players in other rooms and on the deck.
Hoping for the best of both worlds, I ordered a Wyred4Sound modded Sonos Connect (the same thing as the ZP90 Zone Player, with a new name). This modification changes just the digital board, and includes reclocking and upsampling – I order the 96K version, which Wyred4Sound recommends as the best-sounding option. The link is http://www.wyred4sound.com/webapps/p/74030/117839/539960 Again, connected to the TacT via digital coax.
The Wyred4Sound Sonos pretty much gave me the best of both worlds – sound quality in the same ballpark as the SotM, with more solid-sounding bass and the ability to use the all-house Sonos system and interface. If you are using a Sonos player to play music from a server, I highly recommend the Wyred4Sound mod. But I do go back and forth with the SotM, and find that some albums sound better on one and some on the other, probably depending mostly on the way the bass is recorded. I am still considering getting an external power supply for the SotM (currently, it is running on USB power, but it has the option of using a 9V linear power supply – recommendations on one gratefully accepted).
This experience has convinced me of two things – first, CD-sourced music played back from a server sounds better than music played back on CD, even on an excellent transport; second, the means used to extract music from the server can make a very significant difference. And I love the Sonos system generally – I have the zone players/Connects set up in 4 rooms other than the main system, and it’s wonderful to be able to access our whole music collection anywhere in the house. We also got a Sonos Play:5 for the deck (separate review coming), which is very cool.
Sorry for the lengthy post – hope some of you found it interesting.
When I first set it up, the easiest thing for me to do was use one of my Sonos zone players (a ZP90), hardwired to the router via ethernet (the Vortexbox is also connected this way) and connected to the TacT via coaxial digital. The sound quality immediately struck me as mostly better than playing CDs on my Bel Canto CD2 transport – smoother in the highs, greater image depth, and better bass. However, there was a slightly compressed sound to the music (and yes, I checked to make sure I had the Sonos set for “uncompressed”). The analog output of the Sonos, using its internal DAC, is not in the same league. If you use a Sonos player, I recommend using the digital output into a good DAC.
My next step was to order one of these http://shop.smallgreencomputer.com/SOtM-USB-Digital-Interface-SOtM-USB.htm to go from the Vortexbox USB output to the TacT via AES/EBU. This entailed using Logitech Media Server software instead of the Sonos interface. The Logitech Media Server interface is not bad, but I prefer the Sonos. This was an obvious improvement in sound – hard to describe, but I’d say the background seems quieter and imaging is even better, with no sense that the sound is compressed. Certainly it is easier to hear detail. The downsides were that the bass seems a bit lightweight, and with the SotM I could not take advantage of the Sonos players in other rooms and on the deck.
Hoping for the best of both worlds, I ordered a Wyred4Sound modded Sonos Connect (the same thing as the ZP90 Zone Player, with a new name). This modification changes just the digital board, and includes reclocking and upsampling – I order the 96K version, which Wyred4Sound recommends as the best-sounding option. The link is http://www.wyred4sound.com/webapps/p/74030/117839/539960 Again, connected to the TacT via digital coax.
The Wyred4Sound Sonos pretty much gave me the best of both worlds – sound quality in the same ballpark as the SotM, with more solid-sounding bass and the ability to use the all-house Sonos system and interface. If you are using a Sonos player to play music from a server, I highly recommend the Wyred4Sound mod. But I do go back and forth with the SotM, and find that some albums sound better on one and some on the other, probably depending mostly on the way the bass is recorded. I am still considering getting an external power supply for the SotM (currently, it is running on USB power, but it has the option of using a 9V linear power supply – recommendations on one gratefully accepted).
This experience has convinced me of two things – first, CD-sourced music played back from a server sounds better than music played back on CD, even on an excellent transport; second, the means used to extract music from the server can make a very significant difference. And I love the Sonos system generally – I have the zone players/Connects set up in 4 rooms other than the main system, and it’s wonderful to be able to access our whole music collection anywhere in the house. We also got a Sonos Play:5 for the deck (separate review coming), which is very cool.
Sorry for the lengthy post – hope some of you found it interesting.
